


THE END OF THE LONG WAIT for VIXX

by Thierry_Lei



Category: VIXX
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Other, VIXX does not really appear, lost opportunities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-11
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-03-29 21:13:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13935540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thierry_Lei/pseuds/Thierry_Lei
Summary: When VIXX releases their long awaited comeback





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> At the moment of writing it has been 10, almost 11, months since the last comeback of VIXX  
> (Shangri-La or Do Won Kyung 도원경)  
> Starlights, the fans of VIXX, are getting a bit restless, although VIXX have released quite a few other things, their appearance at the Pyeongchang Olympics, some solo projects (N's interviews, DJ, work), their charity work, Ken's & Leo's Musicals, VIXX LR's Whisper, etc.
> 
> And I've seen some Starlights posting some ... interesting tweets about waiting for VIXX.  
> So then I posted [my own story/ my take on it](https://twitter.com/Thierry_Lei/status/972761248214503424) on twitter, and thought... maybe I should post it here too.
> 
> So here it is.
> 
> Not beta read, and English is not my 1st or 2nd language :)

* * *

"Grandpa! Grandpa!"  
A young woman runs towards the old man. Stiffly he rises from the bed in the cramped cabin.  
Soft humming from machines is audible all around.

"What is it?"  
"You've told me about YOUR grandmother, grandpa. She was still a very young woman, when she left Earth and became one of the settlers of this colony. But you've also told me, that she was waiting for something before she left. That's correct, isn't it?"  
"Yes..."

"She told you, as you have told me, that we should monitor certain frequencies, and that we should record it, when it looked like the recordings of her memory archives, didn't she?"  
"Yes, dearest, but what ..."  
"I just recorded this, grandpa."

The young woman sits next to the old man, and shows him the communication device.  
Music & singing voices are audible, 6 men dancing on the screen. The singing is shortly interrupted by a sharp 'RAAVEEEH' and one of the men speaks words in a very distinct cadence. Then the singing resumes. Until the music and voices finally stop.

Tears begin to stream along the cheeks of the old man.  
"Grandpa...?" The young woman looks worried at her grandfather.  
"It's nothing dearest. I'm just... glad that you recorded this. This... this is what my grandmother was waiting for. Thank you dearest. Thank you."

He presses the replay button.  
Again.  
And again.


	2. Odd Sense

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was thinking about rewriting the 1st chapter, because I was sooooo totaly wrong about 'Scentist', but didn't do it.
> 
> * * *

As the old man stops playing the song, he wipes his tears and looks up: "Is there any information about when this song was released?"  
The young woman takes up the device: "Let's see. This version is from day 21 in the 4th month of the year 2018, but the song was actually released ... let's see... ah... day 17 of the 4th month of.."

"Wait," the old man interrupts. "The song was released on day 17 of the FOURTH month of the year 2018?"   
The young woman nods.

"No, it can't be..." he whispers. He takes back the device, wipes away the song and opens up something else. A bit curious the young woman leans in to watch. She sees how her grandfather accesses some very old files, apparently diaries. He flips through the pages of the file and suddenly stops. There she reads along with her grandfather: 'Saturday, 2018-03-17. Today is the day of the lift-off, today we leave Earth.'

He looks at her, with a look of anguish: "If my grandmother, your great-great-grandmother had waited for the next ship, that would have departed in the 9th month, she could have heard this song for herself..."  
"That's a bit ... unfortunate," the young woman answers.

"Unfortunate?" the man reacts. "It's a bit more than just 'unfortunate', dearest." He closes the file and reopens the song. "You know, this group of young men, were called 'VIXX'. They were quite famous for their songs & dance, and more. And my grandmother loved them to bits."  
"Grandpa, aren't you exaggerating?"

His face softens a bit: "He never told you properly, did he?"  
"Huh? Who? What?" she asks.  
"My son, your father."  
"What should dad have told me?"

The old man sighs: "Let me ask you this: Why is my grandmother famous in the colony."  
"Ow, that's easy. That's because she had the very 1st child in this colony, a daughter, your mother, grandpa. It was kind of the first proof that it was safe to get children here."  
"True. What else?"  
"She figured out the distance of this colony to Earth."  
"And why do you think she figured that out?"

That had the young woman stumped, until the old man showed her the recording again, and said: "It's because she hoped to see and hear what you have just showed me, dearest." At this her eyes opened wide, and the old man elaborated: "My mother told me about it. She was there too. The day grandmother figured out the distance, she cried so much. Mother said she had never seen grandmother cry like that. And all that, because that day she realized, she would never hear and see this song. She would never see this new dance of VIXX, hear their voices singing this new song."

"Why is there no other means of communication with Earth?" she asked her grandfather.  
"I don't know, dear. That question pops up now and then. Whether the technology didn't exist at that time, or it did exist and wasn't given to us, nobody knows. Fact is that we don't have it, and just haven't the resources to research even the possibility of it."

The young woman seemed to mull over this answer. Apparently accepting it, she nodded and asked: "And that's how you know that great-great-grandmother loved this group VIXX so much?"  
"Not only that," he began, "in her Stash ..."  
"Wait! Grandpa, your grandmother had a Stash?!?" she interrupted her grandfather.  
He sighed and softly said, sounding a bit disappointed: "So he didn't even tell you _that_..."

"You mean dad? No, he never did! He never told me, that our family, or great-great-grandmother, had a ... what's the official definition again ... errr .. ah, 'a collection of tangible relics of the planet Earth'. There are few family lines who possess a Stash. I never knew we were one of them."

"Well," he continued, "that Stash, is another thing that shows that my grandmother liked that group immensely."  
"Oh?" she sounded as if she found it difficult to believe.  
"You see, all of it, the whole quotum that she could use, she filled it up with things that had to do with VIXX: CD's, DVD's, a DVD player, magazines, photographs, even something called a 'lightstick'."

"CD? DVD?" She sounded dumbfounded.  
He sighed: "If you want, I could explain it all to you."  
"You would? O yes, grandpa. I'd like that. You see... I find it kind of fascinating that great-great-grandmother loved this group of ... " She stopped a short moment, frowning, apparently thinking about something. And continued: "... of six men so much, that she did that."

The old man shook his head. He seemed to think for a while, while looking at his granddaughter, already of age. Maybe ... "Maybe you could become the next Keeper of the Stash." Her eyes opened wide, when she heard her grandfather saying, that she could maybe become a Keeper.  
"But beware," he continued. "For that you have to learn things about the Stash, that are not readily accessible in the official records."

"Oh! I wouldn't mind, grandpa," she said, "..if it means learning about VIXX too. And especially about ..." As she broke off, the old man noticed that his granddaughter was blushing a bit. She held up the device, tapped on it and showed it: "You know, grandpa, this guy with that lightgrey hair, he's ... he's ... kinda interesting."  
The old man chuckled, and mumbled: "Lesinset.... figures... Even after all that time..."  
"What?"  
"Nothing, dear. I'll explain later."

He rose up, and stretched himself carefully. His granddaughter followed suit. "You know," he began, "I wanted to play this song at grandmother's grave, so it'll be like she has heard the song. I know, it's illogical, but still, would you like to come with me?"  
She nodded.  
He continued: "But before we do that, would you like to see the contents of the Stash first? We'll pass the Storage on the way, so..."  
"We can? Grandpa, I'd love to see the Stash!"

Her enthusiasm made him chuckle again. "Ok, take some warm coats along and some surgical gloves. You'll need those if you want to take out items of the Stash."  
Her eyes went wide, and in a reverence filled tone she said: "I can... touch...the contents?"  
"Yes. If you wear those gloves. Don't forget the coats! It's colder in the Storage."

After they were ready, the young woman walks at the side of the old man. He shuffled along, beginning some of the explanations: "So... CD is the abbreviation of ..."


	3. Resemble

"Real paper?" the young woman exclaimed.

They had arrived in the Storage, and opened the vault of their own Stash. There they carefully examined the items before taking them out of the container, one by one, slowly, handling every item with care and reverence. It took time to do it properly. They even saw the DVD player, with instructions written by the old man's grandmother, how to provide electricity to this machine, in their colony. 

And they came across the booklet that contained a CD, which was the reason for her exclamation.

"Yes," the old man said. "This is the last collection of songs that VIXX made, before grandmother left Earth. It's called Shangri-La. Or if you do it properly, it's called Do Won Kyung."  
"Wow, just... wow..." She couldn't find other words to describe her feelings. "She really must have loved to hear and see VIXX, if she ... if she... " Again at a loss for words, she just gestured at all the items. "Grandpa, now I'm beginning to understand why you said, that great-great-grandmother loved VIXX to bits..."

"I'm glad you're beginning to understand."

With a look to her grandfather her gloved hands hovered over the booklet. As he nodded, she picked it up, studied the outside and carefully slid the paper holder off the booklet.  
"Be careful, dear, the CD is contained within that booklet, at the back. Don't bend it too much, or else you'll risk breaking the CD."  
"I'll be careful, grandpa."

She opened the booklet, and made a sound of surprise at the photographs inside it. "Wow they look beautiful. And the voices in their recording also sounded beautiful. But..." She looked again at the photograph. She opened the device, with the recording she had obtained. And looked at the dancers, moving, until she tapped it, pausing it.

"Grandpa...?"  
"Yes?"  
"Did they dye their hair? Because when I see this Leo, in that new recording, he has light grey hair, but in these photographs he has black hair. Or is it dark blue?"  
"Yes, you're correct. They did dye their hair. It's all part of the theme or concept that they choose for a particular time."  
"Wow... the amount of resources ... time and effort... and that every time again. Just to create these... these..."  
She seemed to fumble around for words, and her grandfather supplied: "Pieces of art?"  
"Yes, that's it. Pieces of art. All those resources ... it's just ... wow..."

He chuckled at her wonder: "And think of this: VIXX was one of many groups."  
"There were more?"  
"Yes."  
"Wow... resources, ... time.... effort...I can't really imagine the amounts that have been poured into this." She carefully put the booklet together again, before putting it in the container.

The old man was glad to see his granddaughter so enthusiastic about the Stash. He should indeed register her as a Keeper. Just in case. He was already an old man. And he could feel it too at the moment. Silently he was scolding himself, for not having brought that little folding chair in the hallway. His knees and the colder environment, those 2 didn't get along very well. But his granddaughter had such sparkling eyes, seeing the Stash... maybe he could endure a little bit longer. What had she picked up now?

"Ow, these must be photographs, yes? Wow. Those VIXX guys look incredibly good. Beautiful. Handsome. I still can't get over it. And this one ... err... whathisnameagain..."  
She thought for a moment: "Ah, yes. He's called N. Or Cha ... Hak... yeon? Mhm... Well. Cha Hakyeon has a gorgeous smile."

She tilted her head a bit. "That smile of his... it looks like dad's smile. And your's grandpa. Dad resembles you a lot and the smile of this Hakyeon ..."  
As she didn't hear an answer, a denial or whatever, she looked up. And what she saw made her worry. "Grandpa? What's wrong?" He was leaning against the wall, face blanched, and seemed to have trouble breathing. "Grandpa?"

"I think... the cold is ... getting to me... Should have ... brought a warmer ... coat."  
"OK, come grandpa, lean on me. I can get you back to..."  
"NO!" he barked.

As he saw the big eyes of this granddaughter looking at him, with something akin to fear, he repeated a bit softer: "No. I'm sorry that you ... have to learn one ... of the maybe harshest ... duties of a Keeper... right now: The Stash is ... your first priority!"  
He took a few breaths before continuing: "If you're registered ... as a real Keeper, I too would ... insist you do it: ... take care of the Stash first. Even ... if that should mean, ... that I would ... die here on the spot."

Again a few breaths. "Besides, you need my ... thumbprint to seal ... the vault."

She hesitated for a bit, but then began to put everything back in the container, quickly, but carefully. As everything was put back, he bend down, with difficulty, and sealed the vault.

"I should bring you back."  
"No, bring me to grandma"  
Her eyebrows rose as her grandfather referred to his grandmother as 'grandma'. He really must have been affected by the cold.  
"Grandpa, are you sure?"  
"Yes. There I can sit down. It's warmer too. Just watch me, I'll get a bit better ... as soon as we get out of the cold of the Storage."

He leaned on her, as they went out. And on the way to the graves, she noticed that he got a bit stronger. He breathed more easily, and his shuffle had steadied. She felt relief, but also a bit of a burden, now she had learned a new duty of a Keeper.

But thinking longer about it, she thought she understood the reasons. A Stash often had no direct function in the colony. But it did link everybody of the colony to that far away place called Earth. And don't even start about the waste of resources, if a Stash would get lost. She shivered just thinking about that. Maybe she should talk to her grandfather about it.


	4. Silence

* * *

The graves were actually a large greenhouse. A rare luxury. Resources should not be wasted. So in the colony everything was recycled. Even the dead. If somebody passed away, a little piece would be kept in storage for DNA sampling purposes. The rest was recycled, if possible. And if there was something left, it was incinerated, to generate power, the ashes buried in a little patch of earth, where flowering plants grew. Those could help out a bit with generating oxygen.

The old man and his granddaughter neared a patch with a beautiful flower. There he sat down on a bench, and the young woman put the tablet near a patch of earth, smaller than the tablet itself. There she waited. 

"Grandma," the old man began, "that song you were waiting for, has finally arrived." He nodded at the young woman, who tapped on the device and it began to play the song of VIXX she had recorded. A song that by contemporaries would be recognized as 'Scentist' or '향' (Hyang).  
She also tapped the repeat option.

While the song kept playing, she kept an eye on her grandfather. But he seemed to have told the truth, that it was the cold that affected him. No more faintspells. She felt a wave of relief, as she saw him smiling, towards that little patch of earth, be it with an undertone of sorrow. 

Maybe someday she could fully understand the sorrow he felt. When she could fully appreciate how much it took, to wait so long for something.

Suddenly her meditative moment, was interrupted by a loud buzzing. She looked at her comm device. O darn...!

"Grandpa, I totally forgot my date.. I mean.. appointment. Shall I bring you back to your room?"  
"No, that won't be necessary, dear. Just go."  
"But you're here alone, grandpa."  
"Just go, I'm fine. Don't let him wait too long." And on a teasing tone he added: "Even when he's not Leo from VIXX. You know? That Taekwoon guy with lightgrey hair?"  
"Grandpa!!"

"Go, I'll manage," he said with a smile. And apparently that smile and his demeanour were enough to convince her.  
"Ok, grandpa. See you later!" She walked away with a little skip in her step, Ah, to be young again!

As she went out of sight, his smile faded away. He had not told her the whole truth at the Storage. Yes, the cold had affected him. But so had her words. It brought back a memory, that crashed into his consciousness again, from the deep recesses of his brain. A memory from the day before his grandmother had passed away, some 70 years ago, when he himself was a young man in his twenties.

* * *

As the doctors said that she would not last another 72 hours, she had called up her descendants. He came with his mother, and recognized quite some uncles, aunts and cousins. His grandmother would beckon to someone who came nearer to her bed, and she would say her last words. Sometimes praise, sometimes an admonishment, sometimes words of farewell.

His mother had neared the bed, and she received praise because she already had found a second Keeper. 'Hey, they're talking about me!' he thought. And then he himself was beckoned.

As he stood near the bed, his grandmother kept beckoning him, he came nearer, and finally so near that he was bending over the bed, the first one who did that. Her skeletal arm came up, and fingers latched unto his collar. With a surprising strength, considering she was dying, she pulled him even nearer, until his right ear was near her lips. 

That's when she began to whisper, softly, slowly, every sentence interrupted by a few breaths:  
"I've got no time left to really think it over.  
And I am really sorry,  
that I am going to burden you with this.  
With what I tell you  
do what you want.  
Bury it forever,  
keep it secret for a time,  
or shout it out when I'm gone.  
I met him, N, Cha Hakyeon of VIXX  
during the preparations  
for the Olympic torch relay.  
Cha Hakyeon was a good man, a nice man  
and I had an affair with Cha Hakyeon."

After that, his grandmother pushed him away. The next day she was gone.

When asked what she had said, he just told that she was sorry that she had burdened him. Everybody assumed that it had to with the Stash. They were partly right.

And in the course of time, this memory sank deeper and deeper away.

* * *

Until it had come back with a crash, because of the words of his granddaughter. That his smile, and that of his son, resembled the smile of Cha Hakyeon. Could it be? He knows his own mother, was the first child born in the colony, some 7 or 8 months after the arrival. Could it be? That claim of his grandmother. Could it be?

With a groan he stood up, he could really feel his age, because of his knees. Damn...  
A few paces closer to the flowerpatch, and he picked up the tablet. He tapped it, to stop the play of the song. He looked at that patch of earth, with the flower, and addressed that patch:  
"Is that the reason you left so quickly, grandma? Leaving Earth, but still hoping you would hear Hakyeon's voice again, in something new?"

There was no way to prove it. And the main leads of this drama, or maybe a tragedy, had passed away long since.

So much information. So many indicators. So many assumptions.

As he shuffled back to his room he pondered.

And wondered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it became 4 chapters. It was one very long chapter, but then I noticed the titles of Eau de VIXX ... and ... yeah... they somehow fitted.

**Author's Note:**

> After VIXX comeback, I'll probably add a 2nd and last chapter.  
> The main storyline of that part is clear, but some things hinge on the real comeback of VIXX.


End file.
